Hello
Gentle Reader,
The
shortlist for this years International Booker Prize has been considered as
exciting as its longlist, which once embraces new literary perspectives, voices,
and writers, while providing hallmark to both established and known writers and
bringing to the forefront new and emerging voices in the world literary scene.
The shortlist is also dominated by female writers, with the two front runners
and favoured to win being: Olga Tokarczuk and Geetanjali Shree.
Without
further delay, the shortlist is as follows:
Olga Tokarczuk – Poland – “The Book of
Jacob,”
Geetanjali Shree – India – “Tomb of Sand,”
Bora Chung – (South) Korea – “Cursed
Bunny,”
Mieko Kawakami – Japan – “Heaven,”
Jon Fosse – Norway – “A New Name: Septology
VI-VII,”
Claudia Piñeiro – Argentina – “Elena
Knows,”
Women
dominate this year’s shortlist, with Jon Fosse being the only male contender
for the award. Despite Olga Tokarczuk and Geetanjali Shree being the
frontrunners for this year’s award, the International Booker Prize has a
reputation for defying the critical expectations, and awarding another novel which
orbited in the periphery, as in the case of 2019 with Jokha Alharthi’s novel “Celestial
Bodies.” While last years favoured writer was Maria Stepanova with “Memory of
Memory,” who in turn lost to David Diop with his novel “At Night All Blood is
Black.”
The
dark horse with this year’s award could be considered Mieko Kawakami’s novel “Heaven,”
a topical novel about bullying in Japan and the strangely masochistic perspective
one character takes with regards to the torment she suffers as purifying her. It
is a novel that is socially engaged and has been praised for graceful and
eloquent, but also being viewed as a junior novel, written relatively early in
Kawakami’s literary career, and despite its raw sincerity, the writer often
entered the realm of exaggeration or torture pornography to make their point
regarding the torment and bullying been served the students. While on the contrary,
the English did enjoy “The Lord of Flies,” and may view “Heaven,” as a
similarly critical parable of youthful social Darwinism, power struggles, and societal
demand for conformity within the Japanese context.
In
all this years International Booker Prize has shaped up to being an exciting
affair with a mix of both new and established writers.
Thank
you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take
Care
And
As Always
Stay
Well Read
M.
Mary
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